"Next group: Hu Yue'er, Chu Feng, and Lin Luoluo, please report to Assessment Area Three and prepare!"
The loudspeaker on the raised platform sounded again, its cold voice echoing throughout the hall.
"Hurry up, Luoluo, it's our turn!"
Bai Chen's voice rang out in Lin Luoluo's mind, tinged with excitement.
It was finally starting!
According to Lin Luoluo, this so-called Contract Spirit Master assessment used the Federation's most advanced virtual reality technology to simulate a one-to-one replica of a real Mine Tunnel.
For prospective Contract Spirit Masters who had never actually entered a Mine Tunnel and had only studied some theory at school, it was undoubtedly a valuable practical exercise.
Bai Chen was curious about it as well.
Just how difficult were the Mine Tunnels in this world?
Surely they couldn't be more dangerous than the Demon Continent where he had once lived?
In that place, where powerful Demons at level seventy or eighty ran rampant at every turn, he had survived for a whole year!
Bai Chen had also learned something interesting from Lin Luoluo.
The Demons in these Mine Tunnels all originated from the Demon forest where he had first arrived after transmigrating.
After he had dominated the entire Slime Forest, he had learned something about the surrounding area.
Later, he had heard that quite a few Demon leaders among the neighboring Demon races had chosen to take a desperate gamble, slipping through Rifts into the human world.
Would he get a chance to run into some of the guys he had fought before in this world?
While his thoughts wandered, Lin Luoluo had followed the crowd to the preparation corridor outside Simulation Room Three.
It was a long, narrow metal hallway, with a faint smell of disinfectant and metal in the air.
At the end of the corridor, a heavy metal door slowly slid open.
A familiar figure walked out, her face showing pride and smugness she made no effort to conceal.
It was Jiang Ruoxue.
She had just received an S-rank rating that drew everyone's attention, and she was now basking in the envious and awestruck gazes around her, like a princess surrounded by stars.
When her gaze swept over the crowd and finally landed on Lin Luoluo, a different note crept into her lofty smugness.
When enemies met, their eyes burned all the more fiercely.
Jiang Ruoxue paused, a meaningful smile curling her lips.
She walked up to Lin Luoluo.
"Oh, it's Lin Luoluo. Your turn?
Good luck. The assessment isn't easy, so make sure you don't fail to even get a D-rank rating. That would be so embarrassing."
With that, she swept away surrounded by her followers, leaving them with a dashing view of her back.
"A weasel paying a New Year's visit to a chicken—Jiang Ruoxue definitely has no good intentions!"
Bai Chen's voice rang out in Lin Luoluo's mind as he said warily:
"Xiao Luoluo, we need to be careful in there! You don't think she's tampered with the assessment, do you?"
Jiang Ruoxue's words had left Lin Luoluo somewhat bewildered.
Hearing Bai Chen's concern, she thought for a moment, then shook her head and said hesitantly:
"She probably... wouldn't, would she?"
"This is a Contract Spirit Master assessment the whole city is watching, and it uses standard machines supplied by the Federation. The security system is very thorough.
She... she wouldn't tamper with something like this, would she?"
Bai Chen sighed inwardly.
Xiao Luoluo, you still underestimate how ruthless that woman Jiang Ruoxue is.
This morning, she really was planning to send people to finish you off for good!
Even so, Bai Chen did not seem too worried.
After all, as he kept saying, he had survived even the Demon forest, where level seventy and eighty Demons ran rampant. How hard could a mere simulated assessment for newcomers be?
Even if he were thrown straight into a real Mine Tunnel, Bai Chen was confident he could fight his way in and out seven times over!
"Assessment group three, come in and prepare."
A staff member in the corridor called to hurry them along.
Lin Luoluo took a deep breath and pushed aside her distracting thoughts. Carried by Bai Chen's undulations, she entered the simulation room.
The simulation room was spacious, covering several hundred square meters.
The entire room was like a giant metal box. Both the walls and floor were made of hard, heavy metal armor plating, covered in marks of every kind.
There were sharp claw marks, black patches left by energy burns, and several enormous dents.
These were traces of battles left during assessments.
Since this room was only used to assess First Tier Contract Spirit Masters, most of the battle damage was superficial and had not caused any substantial damage to the room's structure.
"Put on the Mental Link Device, lie down on it, and wait for the assessment to begin."
At the door,
a staff member in a white coat handed Lin Luoluo a helmet-shaped device, speaking in a flat, mechanical tone.
Lin Luoluo nodded and accepted the device, which was cool to the touch.
Just then, the simulation room door was pushed open again, and a tall, handsome young man walked in.
It was Chu Feng.
"Why did we have to end up in the same group as this kid?" Bai Chen's guard shot up to its highest level. "Could that woman Jiang Ruoxue have arranged this?"
Before Lin Luoluo could respond to Bai Chen, Chu Feng spotted her. His eyes lit up, and he immediately walked over, his face brimming with enthusiasm.
"Luoluo! What a coincidence, we ended up in the same group!"
Chu Feng spoke loudly, greeting her with what he thought was a handsome smile on his face.
"That's great! Don't worry, Luoluo. With me here, I guarantee you'll pass this assessment!"
He patted his chest, looking ready to take everything upon himself.
"Once the assessment starts, just follow behind me. You won't have to do a thing; I'll carry you! I guarantee you'll rack up enough assists. Getting a passing spot will be no problem at all!"
As he spoke, his eyes subtly roamed over Lin Luoluo.
Looking at Lin Luoluo's stunning face, which combined innocent cuteness with a youthful allure, Chu Feng grew more astonished the longer he looked, and a fire ignited in his heart.
Back at school, how had he never noticed that Lin Luoluo, who always kept her head down and went unnoticed, was so beautiful?
She was even more pleasing to look at than Jiang Ruoxue!
A favored daughter of heaven like Jiang Ruoxue looked down her nose at everyone. Although he was a prominent figure at school, winning her over would still be too difficult.
But Lin Luoluo was different!
Her family was poor, her personality was timid, and now she had even been forced to leave school because her younger sister was ill.
For a favored son of heaven like him, wouldn't pursuing a girl like her be as easy as turning over his hand?
In his experience, pretty girls from poor families like her usually worshipped strength and were the easiest to manipulate.
As for helping Lin Luoluo secure a spot, that was naturally just boasting.
His goal was to dangle a grand promise first and make a sheltered little girl like Lin Luoluo admire and depend on him.
When his boast fell apart afterward, he would have plenty of excuses!
The assessment was too hard, she wasn't strong enough and had held him back—any excuse would be enough to fool her.
Maybe, when the girl was heartbroken and dejected over failing the assessment, he could step in with a tender offensive of consolation and show her the care of an older brother.
After a bit of back and forth, maybe that very night he could... hehe...
Thinking of certain indescribably lewd scenes, Chu Feng's mouth stretched into an uncontrollable grin, and he let out a sleazy, foolish chuckle.
Seeing the lustful look on Chu Feng's face, Lin Luoluo instantly frowned, a visceral disgust rising within her.
She took half a step back, putting some distance between them, and her voice turned cold.
"No need. I don't intend to join a team."
"Refusing to team up?"
Chu Feng was dumbfounded.
The smile he thought so handsome froze on his face, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over his head.
He stared at Lin Luoluo, his eyes full of disbelief.
Was she kidding?!
Chu Feng's brows knotted tightly. His gaze fell on Lin Luoluo's legs, which could only rest limply on the black Slime's body, and his sense of absurdity grew.
She was a cripple who couldn't even walk and had to rely on her Contract Spirit as a wheelchair. What gave her the right to reject him?
Did she really not want to pass the assessment at all?
Or did she think the assessment was too difficult, so she had given up hope completely and decided to let the broken pot shatter?!
Chu Feng racked his brains but couldn't understand.
He was Chu Feng! A prominent figure at Second High School, with a powerful Contract Spirit and countless girls fawning over him!
He had lowered himself to invite her and given her a chance to cling to his coattails. It was an enormous favor! It was bad enough that she wasn't overflowing with gratitude, but she actually dared to refuse?
Just moments ago, he had even imagined a more salacious development.
If he succeeded in teaming up with Lin Luoluo, he could use her limited mobility as an excuse to openly offer to carry her on his back.
Although no one had paid particular attention to Lin Luoluo's beauty before, her figure had long been a subject of teasing among the boys!
Her perfectly developed curves were the subject of many boys' private fantasies.
But now, it had all gone up in smoke.